How a new kind of tech will advance digital fashion

August 01, 2016

It began many years ago with mood rings – jewellery whose appearance could magically change depending on the wearer’s mood. And do you remember Hypercolor T-shirts that changed colour with heat? Of course, there wasn’t any magic involved - both inventions worked by 'sensing' body temperature, and changing what was 'displayed' depending on those heat flutuations.

Today, fashion designers and technologists have an ever-growing list of technology tools and capabilities at their disposal to bring a new array of digital fashion to the masses.

Since we last wrote about smart clothing and wearables, we’ve seen developers and designers take huge leaps forward in fashion tech. And not to confuse ‘fashion tech’ with let’s say a robotic arm, FashNerd.com’s founder Muchaneta Kapfunde defines the term as “technology [that] is embedded into fashion garments, or when designers use the latest technology to create their garments.”

The purpose of fashion technology

We’ve always used fashion as a way of expressing ourselves – whether it’s dressing according to the latest catwalk trends or combining different styles – and now fashion tech takes this expression to another level. With the future of digital fashion firmly grounded in personalisation, technology enables unique designs tailored to individuals’ aesthetic choices or even their brainwaves as this article in wareable.com explains.

Scott Amyx, a thought leader in the wearables and Internet of Things space, argues that wearables and digital fashion are far less about the tech, and more about the utility and analytics garnered from the tech. The team at FlexEnable agrees and we also believe that technology should serve as an enabler for product transformation that will improve people’s lives.

Flexible displays – fashion use cases

Flexible displays are a core application of our technology and fashion is one of the many sectors that can benefit from integrating thin, light and shatterproof plastic displays into products. From bags that can alter their appearance at the wearer’s whim to belts and shoes that display full-colour video content, the creative opportunities are vast.

If equipped with a screen, any surface can be brought to life. Imagine how fashion accessories can be transformed with the help of flexible displays that can change appearance according to the user’s wishes. For example, a plastic display integrated into a bag or a pair of shoes can change the image displayed on it daily to match the rest of your clothing, or show a video for a bigger impact.

With flexible displays and sensors opening up new creative possibilities for designers, we think we are yet to see exciting applications of this technology in fashion. If you need help to qualify our flexible display technology for your application, please get in touch with us at info@flexenable.com.